Chapter Seven

Defense at its strongest, Slim's body instinctively moved to be in front of Jess' frame. The gun in his hand had its own natural action, moving in a direct line to the center man as the dust settled around them. "What do you want?"

"Jess Harper," the self-appointed leader answered, his rifle jabbing into the air to where Jess stood. "And by the description I have, that's him there."

"All right, I won't lie. That's Jess Harper. But what has he done?"

"What has he done?" The mocking tone was close to a screech. "He's a murderer."

Slim's head bent far enough to catch a look at Jess. It was impossible for them to know about Sam Saks already. Not even a rumor could fly that fast. Offering assurance in his glance, Slim turned back toward the crowd. "Prove it."

A hand reaching into a pocket, a folded sheet came out and its toss landed at Slim's feet.

In one shake Slim had the page open, and although it wasn't printed with Jess' face, his name, age, height and color of eyes were there in the middle. And above and below were the boldly printed letters: WANTED FOR MURDER.

Slim frowned. There was no way, absolutely no way Lex could have gone this far when Saks had only been dead thirty minutes. Crumpling the page in his hand, he threw the poster back at the man that had revealed it. "This is wrong."

"Really? Then how come the marshal at Billings had it printed?"

"Billings?" Slim's eyes narrowed. "Who is it that Jess is supposed to have killed?"

"Ned Avery. His wife found him shot in the heart, and the last person seen with him was Jess Harper."

Jess' throat immediately turned to dust. "Avery's dead? I had no reason to gun him down. All I did was talk to him."

"Right before you shot him!"

Above the shouts, Jess heard Slim's calm tone float into his ear. "Lex must have got to him."

"But why?"

"I don't know, maybe he needed some insurance if what he'd planned with Saks didn't work out," Slim answered, but any further explanation was going to have to wait. The majority of the crowd was no longer on horseback, but charging toward Jess, more than one hand sporting a noose.

Fear seizing him before the rope could burn, Jess' feet began to backpedal. "Slim. I gotta get outta here."

His hand clutched the closest collar while Slim's gun pushed into the man's gut. "Stop! This has to be done by the law."

"We are the law! Now get back and let us perform our duty!"

"I won't. You're going to listen to me first. There's another man, a far worse killer than Harper is."

Jess' eyes couldn't help but drift to Slim and hang on tight. Had his partner just called him a killer?

"His name is Jack Lexington," Slim continued, satisfied when he saw fearful shadows start to form around their eyes. "Certainly some of you have heard of him."

The collective hush was his answer, but so was the angry darts being tossed from their eyes. And the target wasn't to some location where a big-named outlaw was camped, but right at Jess.

Slim raised his voice to match the crowd's level. "Jack Lexington cannot be far from here right now. He's the one you want. Not Jess."

"Of course we know who Lex is," said the man with his collar stuck in a wad inside Slim's grip. "But no one said his name when Avery was killed."

"I just did."

They were thinking. Slim could see the wheels rotating and he knew to prevent them from coming to a screeching halt, he had to tack on some more. "I was wearing a badge for Sheriff Ratcliff out of Eagle Point. He was on Lex's trail, but Lex killed him. And that's not the only murder by him in these parts. Mrs. Whitman and her son, maybe you know them. They both took Lex's bullets bad enough that they're buried outside of their home. And I know it was Lex. Mrs. Whitman told me on her dying breath. That's how I caught up with Lex in the first place, being on the trail from the Whitman's. And Jess, he was only out here to find me. But since Lex was already running from a killing, why couldn't he have added Avery to his list?"

The shouts quieted and spread until even the murmuring in the far rear turned to silence. Slim couldn't deny there was a little rumbling among them, there inside of his gut. The short lie about Jess had wiggled farther than his lips, but he wasn't about to take it back. Not when the men were listening. Not when he was a hairsbreadth from saving Jess from a lynch mob.

Slim built on the fuel he had already laid. "Take some time for the truth to come out. Let's take him on into town, bring in the marshal from Billings, but don't do something that you'll regret."

"All right." The man nodded, making Slim slowly release his collar. "But one single point in Harper's direction is going to get him strung up. I guarantee you that."

The men returning to their horses, Slim heard the heavy sigh behind him and turned. "You all right, Jess?"

"For now. Thanks for slowing them down, Slim. But I dunno how long it's gonna last."

"Once the Billing's marshal is contacted, time should stretch out a bit further."

"Yeah, but Slim, he's the one that had the poster written up in the first place."

Slim hadn't forgotten. He tried to shrug. "We'll worry about that later."

"There is a worry that can't be put off. It ain't exactly a good time to let them know about Saks."

"I know. But we can't leave him there. Come on, Jess." Slim put his hand on Jess' shoulder, feeling the tension that was underneath it. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"You sure you can keep that promise?"

He nodded. But Slim felt his heart get struck by perhaps his own fist because that was the only reply he could offer. The vocal seal, like his uncertainty, remained stuck in silence.

.:.

In the middle and close to Slim, Jess sat atop his horse, the crowd's noise no longer at an uproar, but the idle chatter was enough to keep his voice from spreading farther than his partner's ears. "They took Saks' death better than I figured."

Slim nodded. "That's because they have a witness. I said it was self-defense, and there isn't anyone else to say otherwise."

"For now," Jess answered, his eyes wandering over the far terrain. "We still don't know what else Lex has up his sleeve. You reckon he's still watching?"

"Wouldn't surprise me."

"If he is, likely he won't for much longer. Ridgewood's just around that corner."

"Yeah," Slim answered, watching the terrain that would soon turn into buildings, signs and people.

They stopped outside one that sat in Ridgewood's center, and a pair of surprised glances were exchanged when they dismounted in front of what appeared to be a sheriff's office.

"This is new," Jess said, looking at the barred window, but as his eyes drifted away from the iron lines, he couldn't find a sign to go with it.

"They've got law here in this town?"

"No, it's not a jail," said a man coming onto the walk. "It's a Justice of the Peace, just with a room with bars for those that really break the law."

"So all the little things go unnoticed, right?" Slim asked.

The man shrugged. "Mostly all I do is marry people. I'm Rudy McMann, Justice of the Peace."

"Slim Sherman," Slim said, looking the fifty-year-old over before he nodded sideways to his partner. "This is Jess Harper."

"I know. Seems like no one in this town can talk about anyone else. Well, I guess you've got to go inside, Harper. Only one cell, so there's no point in being picky-choosy."

He had walked into jail cells before, but this one felt different, and it had nothing to do with the title being changed to Justice of the Peace. This time Jess really did feel guilty. Saks' death literally hung over him like the noose that could steal his soul.

Lowering to the bunk that moaned underneath his weight, he put both hands, balled together, underneath his chin. "Dad-gum."

Slim pulled the only stool over to the bars and sat down. "I'm not going to ask you if you're all right, because I can see that you're not. But if you want to talk it over, let it out, Jess. I'm not going anywhere."

"Maybe it'd be better if you did."

Slim leaned forward. "What?"

"You might not think much of me right now, Slim. I don't think much of myself."

"Why?" Slim's hand pressed into his chest. "You were fighting for a friend. Even if that friend wasn't me, I can't fault you for that."

"You don't know all that I've done."

"What else could there be?" Slim's question would remain lost in empty space when his head turned toward the window.

Men's voices, particularly one, returned to riot form. "Where is he?"

Going to the window, Slim kept his back against the wall so that his silhouette would remain hidden and let his ears pick out the closest words. There were enough voices chattering at once that the first few sentences were nothing but a pile of leftover stew, but then as each individual piece cleared, he took an abrupt step backward.

"What is it, Slim?"

"A man's come in to town. Apparently he knows Sam Saks."

"Hal Martin?"

"That's the name, all right."

"Dad-gum. And he's the only man that's got real dirt on me."

Slim's eyebrows rose. "How's that?"

He thought of the woman and his gun together in the same seat. "Nothing."

But nothing wasn't going to cut it. Martin knew about a different kind of dust that stained Jess' hide. He knew it on a level that not every man could fathom. Martin knew Jess' lust for revenge. And he wouldn't let that detail go silent among the crowd. But he also couldn't let that go silent among Jess either.

The door bursting open, Martin filled its space.

First his hatred-filled glare was focused on only one, but then Martin stepped up to Slim. "You must be the partner."

Slim held out his hand, his eyes unchanging when it wasn't clasped. "I am. Slim Sherman."

"You not being dead means Harper here's not just a killer but a liar as well." Martin shifted his frame, for in the small room, all he needed was to turn before he stood directly in front of Jess. "Oh yes, and one other thing, but I'll save that detail for the trial if anyone's fool enough to give you one. You know, Harper, Cheryl will be a witness. Maybe she'll be the one to blow your head off after all."

"Maybe so."

"I actually believed you, Harper. What a fool I was to fall for that cockamamie story you gave me at the Whitman's. You're not just a man seeking revenge. You're a mad man, willing to kill anyone that looks at you wrong. Sam Saks was my friend. Sure, he might be a little bit of a shyster now and then, but he's not the type to gun anyone down. He's not an animal like you. And if you don't think you're going to pay for his death, then you don't have a single brain in that head of yours."

Jess did have a brain, and it was pounding with such severity that more than his head ached, but his entire body. "I know I gotta pay."

His hands stretched within inches of Jess' collar, the only reason they didn't connect was the even stouter palm shoved into Martin's chest.

Martin looked past Slim's arm to sear his fiery gaze into Jess' surprisingly calm blue. "Sam Saks was an innocent man. So that payment is going to come with your life!"

Slim forced the man to take a step in reverse. "I think you've said enough, Martin."

"All right, for now. But I'll talk again, Sherman. I'll talk so loud this entire building is going to crumble. With you and Harper buried inside."

Jess' head lowered at the door's slam. "He's right, Slim."

"What else does he know about you anyway?"

"He knows the kinda revenge I was feeding on, he knows it personal. But there's one more thing." Jess drew a long breath. Of all his steps outside of the law during this venture, this was the one that sickened him the most. "I drew a gun on his wife and little kids."

"Jess…"

He held up his hand. "I've raked myself over and over again about it, Slim. I don't need another set of spurs going over my hide."

"I won't, Jess," Slim said, starting to pace the tight square. "But this is going to be a lot harder to get through than I thought. If only the Billing's marshal was here."

"I'm kinda glad that he ain't. I doubt he'd have any good words for me anyway. I may not know him, but I reckon by the poster he's already sided with Mrs. Avery."

"What about the sheriff in Carson? Gregory, wasn't it? You think he'd play fair?"

"I dunno. Sheriff Gregory's all right, I guess, but I dunno how much favor he's gonna show me."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, I kinda lost my temper and used up my only allowance in his town."

"I don't think I want you to explain that one further."

Neither did Jess. But as it turned out, where the details had remained inside of the jail-like structure, they were now spreading outside of the walls. A shout, and then a cheer, followed by the sinister spit of Jess' name made it quite clear. Martin's appearance hadn't just put the fire back in the mob, but had all of Ridgewood riled up.

Looking out the window, Slim's eyes glittered with the reflection of fire with the half-dozen torches that were being held across the street. "I'm going out for a minute, Jess. Get a feel of things."

"I can feel it strong enough right here. They're gonna come knocking. And I'm gonna go hanging."

"That's what I'm going to find out," Slim said at the door, his exit swift to try to remain in the shadows.

The crowd had grown in just the short span from Slim looking out to running out. He would have whistled at the size if he wasn't trying to keep himself invisible to the mob's eyes. But it was vital that none of them saw him roaming among the outskirts, especially Martin.

He ducked when the man stormed through the center. Creeping behind a crate outside of the feed store, Slim watched as Martin stirred up the group of men with the fire from his tongue. It would have bothered Slim more if the man were shooting lies left and right, but for the most part, Slim couldn't say that Martin was lying.

Jess had been angry, he had been desperate, he was trained with eye and iron, and he also had more reason to kill than most. But what was making the most difference was that self-defense and Saks' name was no longer in the same sentence. Now it was murder.

Slim kept lowered, but not so far that his eyes couldn't see and he peeled them away from Martin to where the glow from the barred window stood out. He pictured Jess sitting there, hands folded, head bowed, his emotions a mixture of guilt and fear. But something else Slim could see that another would never catch the slightest glimpse of, was his loyalty, the real reason why Jess' body had the appearance of a condemned man.

The sigh was so heavy it hurt, or maybe the pain was coming from the throb that had just increased its pound inside of his chest as Slim examined what was living right there. Including a nagging question that could no longer be ignored. Would he have done things any differently? They were partners, brothers even, and if their roles in this debacle had been reversed, if Jess had been killed, he might have done the same thing. He definitely would have revenge in his veins. What he had flowing along with his blood now was evidence enough.

But Slim had to decide, how far would that feeling take him? He started to whisper, "All the way," but then his tongue stilled before its completion. There was more to that saying than laying down one's life. That Slim would do without hesitation. But there was something else wiggling through his partner-hardened core.

Could he break the law to save Jess' life?

Slim stood still, but he couldn't say the same about his eyes. From left to right they wandered, and every man that his blue touched he could see their hate flowing from their very souls. With a simple shift Slim saw that the hatred had spread beyond gestures, beyond their throats, beyond their vows. Hands clutched rifles. Some clenches were only fists. But everyone held some kind of weapon, with Martin in the very center, holding high a noose. It was obvious. They were going to kill Jess.

The answer was in the way Slim's feet were going toward the jail, the way his hand flexed near his iron, and the way his mind was already leaping ahead of him how they were going to make a clean break. He was going to save Jess' life.

But he had to get past one thing first.

His earlier walk by the post office granted Slim two opportunities. The first was to rip Jess' poster from the wall, the second was to overhear a conversation between a pair of men that didn't belong to the boisterous crowd. The Justice of the Peace and a man with an unknown title were talking about how to keep Jess alive. Although that had struck Slim with a note of surprise in the right way, he was also hit with a stronger punch in the opposite. While Slim was out prowling for answers, a guard had been placed outside of the barred door.

This is what he now had to get past, to ensure Jess' safety, because a guard's presence simply wasn't going to be enough, not when the mob came to call.

Guards could be the size of a bull, complete with longhorn-type weapons, or they were the kind that would drool at the smallest temptation. With a bottle tucked under Slim's arm, he hoped that the second would be the winner. But if a fat hoof started raking up the ground in front of him, the liquid-filled glass could serve as a dual purpose as long as Slim could wrap the bottle around the guard's skull.

Peeking around the corner, Slim smiled. His wish was going to be granted.

Untying his bandana so that it hung loose around his neck, Slim jerked one side of his shirttail away from his belt. Putting his hat on the end of the hitching rail, both of Slim's hands went into his hair to make more than one lock stand straight up. This next part was going to be the most difficult. He lifted the gun that had belonged to Saks from his belt line and left it in the post's shadow.

With another peek around the side of the Justice of the Peace's office, Slim took a deep breath and then stretched one long leg out in front of him. The rest of his steps were taken with such a stagger that he spun a full circle, backpedaling before he tottered in front of the guard.

Slim put his finger up to his lips. "Shhh. Can' let the… hic … Jushtus of the Peash… hic… know I've been… been duh-rinkin'."

A thumb hooked toward the door. "Oh, well he ain't in there."

"No?" Slim patted the butt of the bottle. "Then I guesh it'sh o-okay if I get drunker. Muh seccin of th'night."

The man watched as a long dose went down Slim's throat, and with the loud smack across from him, his own tongue drifted through his parted lips to glide across his suddenly dry mouth. "Uh, Mister."

"Hmm?" Slim burped, preventing his grin from growing. "Oh, I'm shorry. You wanna lil nip? I gots plenny."

"Thank you," he said, taking the outstretched bottle. "It has been a long night."

"Chiwwy too," Slim slurred the notes so long he began to think he was practicing to star in an opera.

The guard wiped his hand across his mouth. "Aw, that sure hits the spot."

"Have s'more." And some more, and some more, and some more, Slim added to himself.

And as if the man could hear Slim's internal encouragement, he obliged.

When Slim saw the eyes start to swim, he knew he won. Turning the man around so that he faced the open alley, Slim gave his back a light shove to get him moving. The way he was swirling, the guard must have been trying to oust Slim's walk in. If Slim's guess was anywhere near accurate, he wouldn't remember this stroll at all. Now all Slim needed was to get his loose attire back together.

The office's door swinging only wide enough for his gun to make entry, Slim's eyes followed the point until he saw that the rest of the room was clear. But it wasn't going to be tucked into his belt line, just in case.

He inserted the cell's key, and with a grinding clank, the heavy door popped open. "Come on, Jess."

The image of the iron in his partner's hand remained even after Jess lifted his eyes to the similar shade of his own. "You're breaking me outta jail?"

"Looks that way," Slim answered, handing Jess his iron and belt that had been tucked into a drawer. "But remember this isn't a jail, it's a Justice of the Peace."

Jess buckled his weapon in place. "Just with a room with bars for those that really break the law. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard it all before. But you're breaking me out of whatever this is?"

"I am."

"Well I'll be dadgummed." Jess' lips attempted the smirk and failed, yet the spark did reach his eyes. "Slim Sherman's breaking the law."

Slim tossed the keys into the wastebasket. "Don't spread it around. I don't think my picture would look very good on a wanted poster."

"You got that right," Jess answered, putting his hand on Slim's chest to still him. "Teasing aside, Slim. You know what you're doing is just gonna get you into trouble too."

"Well, maybe. But I'm putting something a little more important in front of that one. I'm saving your life first."

"Thanks, Slim."

"Thank me after I'm successful. We're not out of town yet. Let's go."

Side by side in the alley, Jess pressed his back into the wall. "Where are the horses?"

"Tied at the back door of the livery."

"Long way."

"But obtainable. Come on, follow me."

They couldn't crawl across the dirt to get out of town, but it felt as if hands and knees hit bottom in their rush to the livery. Getting in the saddle was silent, the walk out of town as hushed as possible, but then when the main roadway opened up before them, the air seemed to crack with thunder at their commands to run. With every clop of the hooves, a head went over a shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed and with every turn back was a satisfied sigh that there was none.

They had been swallowed in the night's shadows for over an hour when Jess' mount nudged close to Slim's. "Where're we going, anyway?"

"There's a mine tucked into the rocks of that hill," Slim answered, pointing into the darkness where the rise in the ground appeared even darker. "Lex had me up there for several days while he was waiting you out. Not the largest hole ever dug, but there was at least one other shaft than the one I was in. I figure it'll do well to hide you, too."

"Does it got a bed better than what that makeshift jail had?"

"Just rocks."

"Then it'll be better." He suppressed a yawn. "I could sure use a long night with a pillow, but I dunno when I'll get one."

Night was full, but since the moon was close to matching that same description, Slim could see clear enough to notice the lines etched into Jess' face. None that had been there before. "You do look kind of beat, Pard."

One shoulder rose. "I haven't slept much since, well, how long's it been since you shoulda been back at the ranch?"

"I'm sure sorry that you had to go through all of that Jess," Slim said, nudging his horse's nose alongside Jess' so they could ride the trail side by side.

"Ain't your fault."

"And this isn't yours either. Remember that."

"That ain't what everyone else says."

"Since right now it's just you and I, you and I is all that matters."

"Until the mob catches up, anyway."

Slim looked over his shoulder. They weren't in sight, but he didn't know if it was just the nerves inside of his head creating the taunt or if Slim could really hear the distant rumble of hooves. But even if it wasn't real at this moment, it would be. By now they would have found Jess' cell empty, their horses gone, and a trail leading somewhere into the dark.

It was necessary to dismount as they approached the mine, giving both men the opportunity to cut a limb and use it as a broom to chase away their tracks.

He stepped into the mine's oblivion, his belly letting out an obvious roar. "I don't suppose you swiped any food before we left Ridgewood?"

"What, and be wanted for more than just jailbreak?"

"Justice of the Peace break."

"Whatever. But the answer is no. I don't even have a chunk of moldy hardtack to hand you."

"Figures," Jess said, his hand doing more to get acquainted with his new surroundings than with his eyes, for the darkness was blacker than night ever dared to be inside of the mine. "Well, it's for sure that nobody's gonna find us in here at this hour."

"No. We're safer than we've been in days. Why don't you try to get some sleep, Jess? I'll keep a listening ear toward Ridgewood for awhile."

"I dunno if I could, considering."

"Try, Jess. There won't be any time for blinking come daylight."

"All right, Slim. Kick me if I start snoring."

Slim smiled. "Don't worry. I will. Last thing we need is a rock slide among the rest of our troubles."

"I'll remember that remark when your log-splitting is peeling back the ranch house roof," Jess said, not even realizing how he was able to talk so casually of life beyond this mess until the words completed the tumble off of his tongue. Maybe everything would work out. Maybe there wouldn't be a noose cinched his size. Maybe in a few days they would both be home. Seated against the hard backdrop of the mine, he tried to nod his head but couldn't get past the single bob. Or maybe he was still bound to die.

It wasn't the kind of thought that eased a man off to sleep, but Jess' lashes were heavy enough that when he closed them, they remained until Slim was nudging his boot with his own. It was dawn.

Jess stood along the rock wall, concealed from any other eye except for Slim's. "They catch up?"

"Not yet, but there's a few scouting out where we've already walked over. I don't think they've figured out our brush-job, but I'd feel better if you went deeper in."

He started to go, but when Jess realized his steps weren't being followed, he turned to see Slim's silhouette against the morning light. His partner wasn't coming with him. He almost stepped back into the open when Slim's hand touched his chest. "Slim, where you gonna be?"

"First I'm going to take our horses and create a false trail. Then I'll head to Carson. We've got to trust the lawman there. And also I can get a wire sent to Mort. If you can lay low for that long, we've got a chance."

"How slim?"

"I just told you how."

Wearing the hint of a smile, Jess shook his head. "No. I meant how slim is our chance?"

"Hopefully wider than me." Slim put his hand against his belly. "You're not the only one that hasn't been eating well lately. I better go."

"Slim, be careful. Those men from Ridgewood are all over the place. If they find you out here, it ain't gonna be that hard to know it was you that sprung me loose. Most ropes have the strength to hang more than one man, you know."

"I'll be keeping watch. Now don't look at me like that. Despite that point, I'm not the one that's wanted. The men that are after you aren't going to look twice at me." Except he couldn't forget Lex and Beamer. They were out there somewhere, likely with his flesh as their prominent aim. Slim took in a slow breath to try to keep that concern off of his face.

Maybe Jess could read the lines after all.

"Slim, I ain't got the stomach to lose you twice in this short of a span." It was easier to put the emotion on his belly when it really existed in his heart.

"You won't, Jess. If I was going to keel over I would've done it before now. It's you that I want to make sure stays upright."

Jess wasn't going to say it, but he didn't need words to create the image. It already existed. Being upright was the exact position a man was in when the rope went around his neck. He kept his mouth straight as Slim clapped his hand against his shoulder, their parting sign, and then Jess crept deeper into the darkness, perhaps a foreboding of the color that would be inside of his grave.

Slim planned on taking their mounts through a stream for a quarter mile before leaving enough marks that a tenderfoot would have no trouble deciphering. The hooves underneath him couldn't even splash a portion of that span when he heard a shout. Figuring he had been spotted, Slim's hand gripped the iron and aimed toward the noise, but the call was already floating in the opposite direction. But directly opposite from Slim, was Jess.

He left the animals at the creek's bank to top a boulder for a better look. In a way Slim wished he hadn't. It was Hal Martin, and he was following the path to the mine. In thirty more seconds, there wasn't just one man trudging upward, but more than a dozen.

Hurrying up the hillside, Slim kept to the men's rear, not far enough back that if one turned he wouldn't be spotted, but at a span that wore a little comfort. He could go flat against the earth and fire if someone did the same to him.

Slim's belly did meet the ground, but not because a bullet flew his way. Tripping, Slim's body skidded against the surface, but it was from this low view that Slim could see the print on the bottom of the crate that two men were carrying.

Dynamite. And by the size of the package, loads of it.

Jess was in far more danger than if Lex himself were walking up to Jess' front door.

Slim hurried up the slope, not caring how many eyes caught his movement. It didn't matter if a bullet screamed out of one of those well-trained barrels. He was still going to try to stop this.

But it was too late. A body bent over its start, he saw the flame leap up from the powder's spark and the immediate leap for cover.

"Run, Jess!" Slim's shout became lost in the explosion. Ducking under a ledge to save his skull from the cascade of rocks, Slim's vision was blocked from the mine's opening. But he could hear. Although in that it was debatable when the roar was deafening.

At least Slim's prayer could be heard in heaven, as short as it might have been. "Dear God."

Jess was somewhere in the mine's belly. With no way out.